The Ornaments of the 13th Century Khachkars (cross-stones)

Abstract

Khachkar (cross-stone) represents the whole way and process of salvation of man­kind in a symbolic way, and it is also the condensed and allegorical image of the whole universe. Almighty God – Jesus Christ is in the centre of khachkar in the form of the cross. Heaven-Earth vertical divisions are clearly expressed on the khachkar – stair-like pedestal representing Golgotha, which was then replaced with rosette symbolizing the Earth, which has the image of the head (skull) of Adam on it, as the symbol of sinful mankind, the cross, as the Tree of Life or stairs, through which the soul of human being rises up to the sky, and the cornice symbolizing the Heaven sometimes with the images of Christ, apostles and saints. God, coming down to the Earth, was born as a Human Being, in order to raise the sinful mankind to the Heaven through the cross. The Cross, as the Tree of Life, connects the sky and the Earth, and it includes the whole world with its four wings. And the unrepeatable interlace ornaments are aimed to have emotional influence on the souls of people to make them better perceive the Christian truths.